Improving Mechanization for African Smallholder Farmers Part one of a three part webinar series May 3, 2017 Webinar 1 June 6, 2017 Webinar 2 July 6, 2017 Webinar 3 The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a non-profit institution that generates agricultural innovations to meet Africa s most pressing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation. Working with various partners across sub-saharan Africa, IITA improves livelihoods, enhances food and nutrition security, increases employment, and preserves natural resource integrity. The Malawi Oilseed Sector Transformation (MOST) program aims to increase the incomes women and men working in Malawi s cotton, groundnut, soybean and sunflower markets. MOST s portfolio of interventions focuses on facilitating improved access to farm inputs and improved access to agronomic information. MOST is also expanding rural value addition opportunities by promoting access to threshing, shelling and processing of oilseeds. Imara Tech is a new start-up operating in Tanzania that produces agricultural machinery, with a multi-crop thresher (MCT) being the first product. As part of its distributed manufacturing model, Imara Tech establishes workshops in major agricultural regions to assemble, service, and repair machines and to also headquarter regional sales teams. Elliot Avila is CEO and an MIT graduate in MechE. Imara focuses on entrepreneurial villagers who operate the MCT as a service business in their community. Compatible Technology International (CTI) is a non-profit that designs and distributes innovative tools that help families in the developing world rise above hunger and poverty. CTI s technologies and programs provide sustainable pathways out of hunger and poverty. The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Soybean Value Chain Research (Soybean Innovation Lab, SIL) is building a foundation for soybean production in Africa by developing the knowledge, innovation, and technologies to enable successful soybean production. SIL s mechanization program focuses on training local artisans, building collaborations with universities and government workshops to scale-up design, testing and production, and developing programs that address access to mechanization by female farmers. David Wilson and Dr. John Lumkes from the Purdue Agricultural and Biological Engineering department researched, designed and tested a multi-crop thresher for use in SSA. Thresher fabrication training is also offered.
Improving Mechanization for African Smallholder Farmers Part one of a three part webinar series
Agricultural innovation and mechanization in Africa lags behind other continents (UN-FAO) Machinery is a key agricultural input and market enabler Constraints in SSA include: Affordability Availability Lack of farmer skills Private sector constraints Gender issues
Cycles resulting from sustainable crop production intensification (UN-FAO) 1. Higher farm incomes Higher farm incomes: Investment in rural development Establish social protection systems Building urban-rural linkages Enhanced land husbandry methods Sustainable commercialization of farm products 4. Higher productivity 7. Lower operating cost of mechanization 3. Higher demand for mechanization 6. Low capital costs of mechanization 2. More savings 5. Higher levels of supply of mechanization
The groups in this webinar series are trying to bring about change in a variety of ways, including recognizing the importance of mechanization in intensifying agricultural production Developing new sources of farm machinery more suitable for African conditions Environmentally sustainable mechanization We are starting with threshers because field prep and planting mechanization will take longer to match up to conservation agriculture research Threshers eventually need to address issues of organic matter retention Sustainable business models (including gender equity) Public-private partnerships In-country capacity development
In addition to the organized efforts at mechanization represented at this webinar series, there are also efforts at other NGOs, governmental workshops and academic institutions across SSA. Getting designs and prototypes into the hands of users seems to be a major problem, largely due to low farm income and lack of available financing. Gratis Foundation, Bolgatonga, Ghana Kwame Nkrumah Institute of Science and Technology, Kumasi Ghana Tamale Implement Factory, Tamale, Ghana
There is also a large collective of local artisans/welders who are working in agricultural mechanization. Most production is on commission and done on a small order basis Many of these designs are reverse engineered from locally available imports and availability of materials can be limiting. Sometimes a copied design is missing an integral design factor.
May 3, 2017 Webinar 1 The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a non-profit institution that generates agricultural innovations to meet Africa s most pressing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation. Working with various partners across sub-saharan Africa, IITA improves livelihoods, enhances food and nutrition security, increases employment, and preserves natural resource integrity. Compatible Technology International (CTI) is a non-profit that designs and distributes innovative tools that help families in the developing world rise above hunger and poverty. CTI s technologies and programs provide sustainable pathways out of hunger and poverty.
June 6, 2017 Webinar 2 The Malawi Oilseed Sector Transformation (MOST) program aims to increase the incomes of 60,000 poor women and men working in Malawi s cotton, groundnut, soybean and sunflower markets. MOST seeks to have a transformational impact by supporting changes in the market system that fundamentally alter the way business is done to ensure greater benefits for the poor. MOST s portfolio of interventions focuses on facilitating improved access to farm inputs, including better quality seed and pesticides; and improved access to agronomic information. MOST is also expanding rural value addition opportunities, by promoting access to threshing, shelling and processing of oilseeds; and developing marketing and distribution systems in farm input and crop output markets. The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Soybean Value Chain Research (Soybean Innovation Lab, SIL) is building a foundation for soybean production in Africa by developing the knowledge, innovation, and technologies to enable successful soybean production. SIL works to reduce global poverty and hunger by accelerating growth in the agriculture sector through improvements in agricultural productivity among smallholder farmers. SIL s mechanization program focuses on training local artisans, building collaborations with universities and government workshops to scale-up design, testing and production, and developing programs that address access to mechanization by female farmers.
July 6, 2017 Webinar 3 Imara Tech is a new start-up operating in Tanzania that produces agricultural machinery, with a multi-crop thresher (MCT) being the first product. As part of its distributed manufacturing model, Imara Tech establishes workshops in major agricultural regions to assemble, service, and repair machines and to also headquarter regional sales teams. Elliot Avila is CEO and an MIT graduate in MechE who loves taking ideas with high-impact potential and helping them thrive. Imara focuses on entrepreneurial villagers who operate the MCT as a service business in their community by ferrying the machine around on the back of a motorcycle and threshing neighboring farmers crops. With this new source of income, the operator can earn up to ~$14 USD per hour. David Wilson and Dr. John Lumkes from the Purdue Agricultural and Biological Engineering department researched, designed and tested a multi-crop thresher for use in SSA. Thresher fabrication training is also offered.
Participants who are engaged in mechanization programs and who would like to present in this webinar series should contact: Kerry Clark Soybean Innovation Lab clarkk@missouri.edu http://soybeaninnovationlab.illinois.edu/ The Soybean Innovation Lab is also developing a Mechanization Network where groups and individuals working on agricultural technology can interact and share ideas and designs. We hope to improve the visibility of groups working in mechanization to foster improved collaboration between technology providers and users. Please contact Kerry to be added to the network.